Always a Beifong
by DragonRider122
Summary: When Lin's bending is taken from her, the memory of a conversation with Toph is all that keeps her going.


**Disclaimer: Don't own Korra. Surprise, surprise.**

**The finale was wonderful; I literally started jumping up and down when Korra got her bending back. And also when Lin got hers back as well.**

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"Mommy!"

Normally Toph sleeps like a rock, but the one sound that she will hear from anywhere in the world is her daughter's voice. Jerking awake, the blind Earthbender instantly locates Lin's heartbeat, and alarm washes through her as she feels it thundering like an avalanche. Leaping to her feet, Toph tears through the house, bursting into Lin's room and half-expecting an intruder. But the only vibrations she feels belong to her daughter as the seven-year-old lets out a sob and runs to her, throwing her arms around Toph and burying her face into her shirt front. Relieved and yet still very concerned, Toph holds Lin close, reading her emotions and discovering a gut-wrenching amount of fear. "Lin? Linny, what's the matter? Talk to me, kiddo. I'm right here." She strokes Lin's hair, her rough hands exceedingly gentle.

Lin whimpers something unintelligible, and Toph cracks a smirk. "I'm already blind, kiddo. Don't make me think that I'm deaf too." Her smirk widens as Lin lets out a hiccupping giggle.

"I…I dreamed that I couldn't bend. That I was just a regular girl. And…..and you…" She sobs again, fingers clutching Toph even tighter. "You were disappointed in me, you didn't love me because I—I wasn't what you wanted…" Lin trails off, crying too hard to talk. Toph can feel her small body shaking.

Toph feels as though someone just punched her in the stomach. The idea of not loving her daughter is inconceivable, but to hear Lin talk that way…"Lin Beifong, you listen to me." Toph pulls away and crouches down, taking Lin's hands in hers and squeezing fiercely. "You are my daughter and I love you. Nothing will change that. I don't care that you're a bender—sure, it makes me proud as hell, but it wouldn't matter if you weren't. Linny, my parents knew what they wanted me to be—the perfect daughter for nobility: Quiet, meek and obedient. But that isn't who I am. I could never ask you to be anything more than you are. If you couldn't bend, so what? You're still a Beifong. And THAT is why I love you. Got it, missy?" Toph slid a hand up Lin's arm until she found her face and tapped the girl's nose.

Lin sniffled. "O—okay. You promise, Mommy?"

"Course I do. Shake on it." Toph grinned and spat into her palm. Lin did likewise, and the two shook hands. "Now how about you spend the night with me? I'll keep those nasty old nightmares away."

"Mommy?" Lin asked softly, yawning as Toph's strong arms scooped her up. "You'll protect me from anything, won't you?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I will. As long as I'm around, you won't have to be afraid of anything."

The first thing Lin was aware of when she woke was silence. Complete and utter silence. At first she couldn't figure out why it felt so wrong. But then her gut dropped and she nearly cried out as she realized: The earth was silent. Desperately Lin pressed her palms to the ground, but she received no familiar vibrations, no sensation of the living soil. It was just cold, hard dirt. _He took it. He took my bending._

Her eyes burned, and it took the former bender a moment to realize she was crying. Lin gritted her teeth and furiously tried to stop the onslaught of tears, but the silence and the aching in her chest were both so raw and deep that she may as well have tried to earthbend. Lin curled into herself and sobbed, saltwater stinging her cheeks. Earthbending was all she had left of her mother, and Amon ripped it away from her. Lin's body shook as she realized that all of Toph's teaching had been for nothing_. I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so, so sorry._

_"Quit apologizing, you idiot."_ Toph's voice rang in her head as clearly as if she was really there. _"Your bending doesn't make you who you are."_

A memory slogged its way to the forefront of Lin's mind—a nightmare that, in hindsight, had foretold this very situation. Lin closed her eyes, remembering Toph stroking her hair as the older Earthbender's strong arms held her close. _"If you couldn't bend, so what? You're still a Beifong. And THAT is why I love you. Got it, missy?"_

Lin released a shuddering breath and opened her eyes, forcing herself to stand. She was a Beifong. If Amon thought he'd defeated her, he had another think coming. Lin smiled briefly at the earth beneath her feet. _Thanks, Mom._


End file.
